Tuesday, 1 February 2011 - Monthly Climate Summary for Tasmania - Product code IDCKGC17R0

Tasmania in January 2011: Record wet in the north

Record-breaking rain fell in northern Tasmania on 12-14 January, giving Falmouth Tasmania's wettest January day on record. This rain also ensured the month was much wetter than usual in the north, but rainfall was near average in the south. Nights were warm overall, but days were mostly cooler than usual with temperatures climbing over 30 °C on only a few days.

• Record 282 mm in 24 hours at Falmouth
• Wettest January on record in the northwest
  
• High humidity leading to warm nights and foggy mornings
  

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

Record-breaking heavy rain and flooding

A trough of low pressure brought very moist air across Tasmania and produced exceptionally heavy rainfall in the north between the 12th and 14th. A new state record January daily rainfall of 282 mm was set at Falmouth on the northern East Coast. Scamander, with 278 mm, also broke the old state record of 247 mm set at The Springs on Mount Wellington in 1916.  Short duration heavy rainfall is a feature of Tasmania's northeast, when humid air from off the Tasman Sea is forced up and over the highlands. This is most common in autumn (the highest daily rainfall ever recorded in Tasmania was 352 mm at Cullenswood near St Marys in March 1974), but can happen at almost any time of year.

In the northwest, Yolla exceeded its previous January daily rainfall record on the 13th and again on the 14th. Burnie and Wynyard Airport also had their wettest January days on the 13th, both by a considerable margin.

A number of other sites had their wettest January day on record, and some sites had their highest January total rainfall, with a few receiving more than five times the long-term monthly January average over the four-day spell.

The heavy rain brought flash flooding which caused significant damage in northern and northeastern Tasmania. Major flooding occurred in the Mersey and Meander Rivers, with moderate flooding in the Forth, South Esk and lower reaches of the Macquarie River, and minor flooding in the North Esk River. There were evacuations in the north and a number of people rescued from stranded vehicles. Gusty northeasterly winds also caused some damage in the northwest and north of the state.

A special climate statement titled Exceptional January rainfall in northern Tasmania was prepared to detail this event.

Very wet overall in the north

It was the wettest January on record for many sites in the northwest and on the northern East Coast, including Ulverstone, Burnie, King Island Airport and Scamander. Rainfall was near average in the south, and slightly below average at a few sites in the west. Falmouth was the wettest site, with a total of 383 mm, while the driest area was just 40 km to the southwest with 30.2 mm recorded at Lewis Hill.

Rainfall during January 2011 was very different to January 2010, which was record dry in the north. Latrobe, for example, received a record high 174 mm this month, but had its driest January on record last year with just 2.6 mm.

Warm, humid nights

Nights in January were mostly warmer than usual, with average minimum temperatures for the month about a degree warmer than usual. A handful of sites had their highest January mean daily minimum temperature on record or for many years. The 7th to 15th was especially warm with cloud, rain and moist easterly winds keeping overnight temperatures well above normal. Bicheno had 9 nights in a row over 15 °C, something that has only happened once before, and Hobart had 5 consecutive nights over 15 °C. The warmest night was the 14th, when Flinders Island had didn't fall below 20.8 °C and Strathgordon (18.4 °C) had its warmest January night on record. Launceston, with 20.2 °C, was just short of the record 20.9 °C set in 2009.

Cool nights were rare. Liawenee fell to -1.1 °C on the 3rd, but this was the only sub-zero temperature recorded in Tasmania during the month. The 2nd, 22nd and 28th were also cooler then usual.

Mostly cool days, and few hot ones

There were many cool days during January, but no significant cold changes; for many sites the coldest day was around 18 °C. There were also few hot days, with temperatures reaching into the 30s only on the 7th, 8th, 15th, 30th and 31th. Campania had the hottest day, reaching 34.7 °C on the 8th. This was well below the 40.7 °C recorded at Ouse in 2010 and the 42.2 °C at Scamander in 2009.

For the whole month, maximum temperatures were mostly a degree or two cooler than January 2010, but still warmer than the long-term average at coastal sites. Inland areas were mostly cooler than usual, especially in the Midlands and Derwent Valley. Launceston had the warmest days on average, with 24.6 °C, and Mount Wellington had the coolest days on average, with 13.3 °C.

Hobart: very different to 2010

As with much of the state, January 2011 in Hobart was very different to last year, with fewer warm days, more rain, less sunshine and greater humidity.

Both daytime and overnight temperatures were warmer than usual for January, but overall it was about a degree cooler than last year. There were 2 days over 30 °C and 5 days over 25 °C (both about average for January), but last year there were twice as many. The hottest temperature was 33.6 °C on the 8th, whereas last year the temperature exceeded 35 °C on two days.

Hobart received 59.8 mm for the month, more than three times the total from last January and slightly above the long-term average. The wettest day was 15.4 mm on the 13th. Each day had an average of 7 hours of sun, around 2 hours less than last year. It was also more humid than last January, especially in the afternoon. The dew point in Hobart exceeded 20 °C on the afternoon of the 15th. This is a value more typical of January in Brisbane; the long-term average January 3 pm dew point for Hobart is 9 °C.

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Extremes in January 2011
Hottest day	34.7 °C at Campania (Kincora) on the 8th
Warmest days on average	24.6 °C at Launceston (Ti Tree Bend)
Coolest days on average	13.3 °C at Mount Wellington
Coldest day	6.3 °C at Mount Read on the 17th
Coldest night	-1.1 °C at Liawenee on the 3rd
Coolest nights on average	5.1 °C at Mount Wellington
Warmest nights on average	15.3 °C at Hogan Island
Warmest night	20.8 °C at Flinders Island Airport on the 14th
Warmest on average overall	19.1 °C at Launceston (Ti Tree Bend)
Coolest on average overall	9.2 °C at Mount Wellington
Wettest overall	383.2 mm at Falmouth (Glencoe)
Driest overall	31.2 mm at Lewis Hill (St Pauls River)
Wettest day	282.0 mm at Falmouth (Glencoe) on the 13th
Highest wind gust	150 km/h at Mount Wellington on the 15th

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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Maps
	Observed	Anomaly	Decile rank
Total rainfall
Mean daily maximum temperatures
Mean daily minimum temperatures

Click on a map to show it full size in a pop-up window

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Record highest January daily rainfall
	Highest daily rainfall in January 2011 (mm)		Previous wettest for January		Years of record
Yolla (Sea View)	131.0	on the 14th	70.1	on the 20th in 1946	105
Burnie (Round Hill)	87.2	on the 13th	51.8	on the 17th in 1979	65
Falmouth (Glencoe)	282.0	on the 13th	150.0	on the 29th in 1995	43
Wynyard Airport	106.8	on the 13th	66.0	on the 25th in 1996	38
Surprise Bay	26.2	on the 11th	22.9	on the 6th in 1934	29
Scamander	278.0	on the 13th	116.4	on the 29th in 2004	28
Three Hummock Island	33.4	on the 11th	24.1	on the 1st in 1956	21

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Record highest total January rainfall
	Total rainfall for January 2011 (mm)	Previous wettest for January		Years of record	Average for January
Ulverstone (Knights Road)	144.0	114.6	in 1904	112	42.8
Latrobe (Coal Road)	173.8	162.4	in 2004	111	43.8
Yambacoona	146.8	124.0	in 1997	109	36.5
Yolla (Sea View)	326.0	211.6	in 1996	106	63.4
Mole Creek	240.0	208.6	in 1996	96	53.2
Burnie (Round Hill)	177.0	126.6	in 1996	66	44.6
Forthside Research Station	188.2	155.4	in 1996	46	53.0
Barrington Post Office	241.0	199.2	in 2004	45	62.1
Falmouth (Glencoe)	383.2	271.8	in 1995	43	66.6
Marrawah	123.0	97.0	in 1997	41	49.1
Wynyard Airport	193.6	166.2	in 1996	38	43.8
King Island Airport	130.8	99.2	in 1977	37	39.0
Scamander	376.5	213.4	in 2004	28	58.1
Campbell Town (Elizabeth R)	75.2	71.0	in 2000	25	41.1

Highest total January rainfall for at least 20 years
	Total rainfall for January 2011 (mm)	Most recent January at least this wet		Years since wetter	Average for January
Pioneer (Main Road)	216.6	235.5	in 1916	93	51.5
City of Melbourne Bay	108.6	123.7	in 1937	74	41.9
Irishtown	134.2	183.2	in 1937	69	50.6

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Record highest January daily minimum temperature
	Highest daily minimum temperature in January 2011 (°C)		Previous warmest for January		Years of record	Average for January
Strathgordon Village	18.4	on the 14th	18.3	on the 15th in 1981	30	9.5

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Record highest January mean daily minimum temperature
	Mean daily minimum temperature for January 2011 (°C)	Previous warmest for January		Years of record	Average for January
Scamander	13.8	= 13.8	in 2008	26	12.6
Geeveston (Cemetery Road)	11.4	11.1	in 2005	24	9.8
Lake Leake (Elizabeth River)	9.5	9.4	in 1999	21	8.2

Highest January mean daily minimum temperature for at least 20 years
	Mean daily minimum temperature for January 2011 (°C)	Most recent January at least this warm		Years since warmer	Average for January
Butlers Gorge	7.9	8.5	in 1971	22	6.3

Butlers Gorge was not operating as an observing site between October 1993 and May 2008, so it is possible that higher mean daily minimum temperatures have occurred but not been reported.

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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Summary statistics for January 2011
	Maximum temperatures for January (°C)				Minimum temperatures for January (°C)				Rainfall for January (millimetres)
	Mean for January 2011	Diff from average	Highest for January 2011		Mean for January 2011	Diff from average	Lowest for January 2011		Total for January 2011	Average for January	Rank of January 2011	Fraction of January average
Northern (district 91)
Bridport (Sea View Villas)	21.5	-0.3	25.5	7th	13.7	+0.7	7.8	2nd	121.4	57.4	high	211%
Burnie (Round Hill)	21.6	+0.6	30.6	30th	14.1	+1.5	8.9	2nd	177.0	44.6	highest	397%
Cape Grim	18.8		23.6	30th	13.6		8.4	4th	104.2
Cape Grim BAPS (Comparison)	19.0	+0.2	23.8	8th	13.5	+0.5	8.8	4th	98.2	36.6	v high	268%
Cressy Research Station	23.9	-1.2	30.4	8th	11.2	+1.2	2.5	2nd	78.6	32.8	v high	240%
Devonport Airport	21.3	+0.1	28.3	30th	13.3	+1.1	5.7	3rd	107.4	42.8	v high	251%
Launceston (Ti Tree Bend)	24.6	+0.4	30.3	7th	13.6	+1.4	7.0	2nd	52.0	46.5	high	112%
Launceston Airport	24.0		30.5	8th	11.8		4.3	2nd	55.6
Low Head	20.5	+0.3	23.8	30th	14.9	+0.7	11.1	3rd	114.0	51.9	high	220%
Luncheon Hill (Forestry)	20.1	-0.9	27.3	7th	10.9	+0.5	5.8	3rd	120.4	80.7	high	149%
Marrawah	19.9	-0.2	24.6	7th	12.7	+0.8	8.1	4th	123.0	49.1	highest	251%
Scottsdale (West Minstone Road)	22.2	-0.6	28.0	7th	12.0	+1.3	5.1	2nd	118.2	58.3	v high	203%
Sheffield School Farm	21.3	-0.6	28.9	30th	11.1	+0.5	6.0	3rd
Smithton Aerodrome	21.0	-0.5	26.7	30th	11.9	+0.8	4.1	3rd	115.8	42.3	high	274%
Wynyard Airport	21.8	+0.5	30.8	30th	12.2	+1.3	5.9	3rd	193.6	43.8	highest	442%
East Coast (district 92)
Bicheno (Council Depot)	21.5	+0.2	30.7	15th	13.9	+1.1	9.9	1st	134.6	53.4	v high	252%
Eddystone Point	22.0	+1.1	27.4	30th	14.3	+0.7	8.9	2nd	124.0	45.7	v high	271%
Fingal (Legge Street)	23.3	-0.1	31.3	8th	11.1	+0.9	4.0	2nd	49.2	44.0	average	112%
Friendly Beaches	23.0	+0.1	31.3	15th	13.6	+0.5	9.6	22nd	101.6	61.6	high	165%
Lake Leake (Elizabeth River)	19.1	-0.2	28.4	8th	9.5	+1.3	4.1	2nd	64.6	54.9	average	118%
Maria Island (Point Lesueur)	20.9		29.4	15th	13.8		10.8	3rd	58.8
Orford (Aubin Court)	21.4	-0.6	29.6	15th	12.7	+0.9	8.5	2nd	66.2	48.9	high	135%
Scamander	22.1	+0.1	32.2	30th	13.8	+1.2	9.8	2nd	376.5	58.1	highest	648%
St Helens Aerodrome	22.6	0.0	30.5	30th	13.9	+0.8	8.4	2nd	162.8	66.5	high	245%
Swan Island	20.4		25.5	8th	15.1		10.5	18th	85.0
Swansea Post Office	22.4	+0.1	31.5	15th	12.9	+1.2	6.0	2nd	60.6	49.4	average	123%
Midlands (district 93)
Ross (The Boulevards)	23.8	-0.6	30.7	30th	11.7	+1.2	3.8	2nd	44.8	47.7	average	94%
Southeast (district 94)
Campania (Kincora)	23.8	-0.3	34.7	8th	11.7	+0.5	3.4	3rd	43.2	37.4	average	116%
Cape Bruny (Cape Bruny)	19.7	+0.1	31.2	7th	12.5	+0.4	9.8	29th	46.6	42.8	average	109%
Cape Bruny Lighthouse	18.9	+0.6	29.8	7th	12.5	+1.1	9.8	18th	51.6	62.2	average	83%
Dover	21.0	+0.4	31.7	8th	11.0	+0.9	4.9	22nd	56.0	52.8	average	106%
Geeveston (Cemetery Road)	21.4	-0.3	32.0	7th	11.4	+1.6	4.4	22nd	51.4	56.6	average	91%
Grove (Research Station)	21.9		32.2	7th	10.3		3.0	22nd	59.2
Hobart (Ellerslie Road)	22.5	+0.9	33.6	8th	13.4	+1.5	9.0	22nd	59.8	47.5	high	126%
Hobart Airport	22.7	+0.2	34.4	8th	13.2	+1.2	7.2	23rd	39.8	40.3	average	99%
Maatsuyker Island Lighthouse	16.9	-0.1	24.8	7th	12.0	+1.3	8.7	4th	79.2	79.3	average	100%
Melton Mowbray (North Stockman)	22.6	-1.4	33.8	8th	11.0	+0.7	4.8	3rd	54.0	31.2	high	173%
Mount Wellington	13.3	0.0	23.1	8th	5.1	+0.4	0.3	3rd	213.6	86.5	v high	247%
Tasman Island	17.5		25.9	7th	11.9		9.3	4th	104.8	75.6	average	139%
Tunnack Fire Station	20.3	-1.4	28.6	8th	9.2	+0.4	1.6	3rd	54.6	44.7	average	122%
Derwent Valley (district 95)
Bushy Park (Bushy Park Estates)	23.9	0.0	32.5	7th	11.0	+1.0	4.7	22nd	62.2	41.0	high	152%
Maydena Post Office	20.4	-1.8	29.8	7th	9.6	+0.7	4.0	29th	63.6	61.5	average	103%
Ouse Fire Station	23.9	-1.6	32.1	7th	11.0	+1.0	3.7	22nd	48.0	26.6	high	180%
Tarraleah Village	19.8	+0.3	27.2	8th			3.8	29th	65.6	69.7	average	94%
Central Plateau (district 96)
Butlers Gorge	18.5	-0.3	27.7	7th	7.9	+1.6	1.7	3rd	83.6	97.0	average	86%
Lake St Clair National Park	19.0	-0.3	26.6	8th	7.4	+1.1	0.9	3rd	69.2	102.1	average	68%
Liawenee	18.0	-0.7	24.5	8th	6.2	+1.1	-1.1	3rd	87.4
West Coast (district 97)
Hartz Mountain (Keoghs Pimple)	16.0	-1.9	25.9	7th	7.2	+0.1	3.2	3rd	79.8	65.2	average	122%
Mount Read	13.5	-0.8	20.9	6th	6.1	+0.4	1.1	3rd	200.6	196.4	average	102%
Scotts Peak Dam	20.6	+0.1	31.2	7th	9.8	+0.6	5.1	22nd	83.4	102.3	average	82%
Strahan Aerodrome	20.8	+0.2	29.8	13th	11.9	+1.3	6.0	22nd	93.6	81.4	average	115%
Strathgordon Village	19.0	-0.2	27.4	7th	10.1	+0.6	5.5	22nd	118.2	146.0	average	81%
Warra	18.2		28.1	7th	8.8		2.3	22nd	101.0
King Island (district 98)
King Island Airport	20.3	-0.4	31.6	7th	12.7	+0.4	5.9	4th	130.8	39.0	highest	335%
Flinders Island (district 99)
Flinders Island Airport	22.5	+0.5	32.0	31st	14.7	+1.4	7.4	6th	74.6	45.6	high	164%
Hogan Island	21.5		31.1	30th	15.3		12.1	3rd	50.4
Antarctica and Macquarie Island (district 300)
Macquarie Island	9.0	+0.2	11.2	26th	5.5	+0.2	2.3	16th	67.4	84.4	low	80%

Extremes Maps Records Summaries Important notes the top

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